The Human Reignition Project[BxG][Slice of Life]

[AWSalmon]

Alienworks Games Presents

The Human Reignition Project

Foreword

Alienworks Games would like to present to you the official announcement of our first large-scale Original English Visual Novel, The Human Reignition Project! After almost a year of weekly meetings, outlining, and writing, we're finally ready to step into the spotlight. It's been a long ride and we appreciate your support and patience as we slowly but surely make our way to our goal of a well-polished, finished project. Without further ado, we present The Human Reignition Project.

PLOT OVERVIEW

In the near future, mankind remains much the same as it is in the modern day. There are no flying cars. There are no robots, no incredible new world order. However, as is natural with the passage of time, society has changed. Technology and modern conveniences have become so widespread and accessible that just about anyone can easily fill their lives with luxurious simplicity. As a result, the general workings of modern life have changed. Many formerly hectic processes and occupations have become obsolete or entirely digital. In drastic contrast with the size and population of cities, birth rates have long ago plummeted to all-time lows and still continue to drop. The modern world is slowly dying. However, the spread of technology has not completely affected everyone. There are still those who would seek the ways of older days. In a small university in an immense city, one man seeks to change the future; not through violence, but through education and reason. Deep in this city, a small group of unsuspecting students will learn many things from this man; about the old world, the current world, and even about themselves.

CHARACTERS

Names and art subject to change.

Ken Senkawa

Ken is a social outcast. No matter what setting he might be in, he will always try to go out of his way to talk to people. He has a very active and easygoing personality, and is either completely unaware of the negative responses of others or actively ignores them. The Human Reignition Project is nothing short of a dream come true.

Kojo Shimura

Leader of the Human Reignition Project, Kojo is a mysterious person but he's very clear about his goals: to save society from it's slow and inevitable collapse.

Hitomi Kanahito

Hitomi is mostly unaffected by modern society. Though she has grown up constantly surrounded by technology, she has never really gotten the memo to be asocial. When introduced to the Human Reignition Project, she is eager to meet new people who might share her enthusiasm for life and communication.

Yukino Kajihara

A quiet girl, Yukino holds an isolationist view of life. Unlike Hitomi, she wants nothing to do with other people. The advances in technology mean nothing in particular to Yukino; in any other circumstances she would be just as cold and detached. She is persistent in her ways and sees the Human Reignition Project only as a class to be passed and forgotten.

Senri Kanzaki

Senri has always found fault with the modern world. While she is certainly not unaffected by technology, she does not agree with the workings of society. Ever an ambitious woman, Senri has made it her calling in life to change the world. Upon hearing of the Human Reignition Project, she is eager to further her efforts at really making a difference.

Shion Kusakabe

Self-reliant but quiet to a fault, Shion has always been something of a loner. Though she is well-adapted to the world, she has never fit into modern society. Despite efforts on her part, she has never found a person to call her friend. Upon hearing of the Human Reignition Project, she is hopeful that she might finally find one.

Hiyori Sasayaki

Society hasn't really affected her all that much; she has always lived her own way regardless of her surroundings. Cool and collected but not unapproachable, Hiyori has a certain air of quiet dignity. When introduced to the concept of the Human Reignition Project, she is decidedly indifferent but curious to see what happens.

Setsuna Nasunaga

A girl born to a harsh and strict family, Setsuna has always had something of a wild streak. Finally leaving her parents after all these years has fueled a nearly unquenchable taste for fun and adventure. She sees the Human Reignition Project as an opportunity for a thrill or two.

GAME OVERVIEW

The Human Reignition Project is a branching, character-driven slice-of-life story focusing on the importance of human connections and selflessness, and the dangers of self-centeredness. It is a visual novel novel featuring six heroines and full, developed side characters. The game will be free, and has an estimated budget of $5,000, of which nearly all will be spent on art assets in the hopes of providing the best visuals possible to compliment our story. Our goal, aside from releasing a high-quality visual novel for free, is to learn about the development process of the English Visual Novel market, discover the best development and business methods for the medium, and apply those methods to our future games.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. Why a Japanese setting?

When you look at Japan's recent social decline - its aging workforce, its dwindling birthrate and the ever growing problem it faces of young people simply being uninterested in relationships, setting our story in Japan makes sense. We've taken the problem Japan faces and applied an extreme version of it to the world, with Japan being one of the worse-off nations.

2. How long will the game be?

As of right now we can't say exactly how long this story will end up being. What we do know is that with a multi-act common route with a full story of its own and six unique heroine routes, it will be a rather long visual novel.

3. Will the game really be free?

This is something we decided at the outset. The Human Reignition Project is a completely self-invested project, and that won't ever change.

4. Will you hold a Kickstarter?

No. Our reasoning is simple: Since this is our first time working together as a group, we don't want to run any risk of upsetting any possible fans that might give us funds if for some reason we end up not being able to publish our game. That is why we're self-investing in this story. We're confident we will complete this story, but we don't want to disappoint any potential backers with failure or a game that's not as good as they might be expecting.

5. Who are your members?

Notable members include reddit's Artist Apprentice on sprites and Lemma Soft Forums' Badriel on backgrounds.

6. What can I do to help?

Spread the word! The more people who know about us the more people might be willing to help us with development, either by discussing our story or helping us more directly.

INTERESTED IN JOINING?

Alienworks Games currently consists of a small group of writers, artists, programmers, and composers, but we can always use more help now and in the future. Artists, editors, writers, testers, composers, web designers, cultural gurus, and anyone else who believes they might be able to have a hand in helping our project succeed, we want to hear from you! Please send any applications or letters of interest to our email address at Alienworks.Recruiting@gmail.com and wait for our response.

Screenshots

Mockup, pre-alpha images. Everything is subject to change.

LINKS

Our website: http://reignitionproject.com/
Our forum: http://reignitionproject.com/forum
Our blog: http://reignitionproject.com/blog/
IRC: http://mibbit.com/?channel=%23hrp&server=irc.rizon.net
Contact:
AlienworksDevTeam@gmail.com
Alienworks.Recruiting@gmail.com

[Katta]

Looks beautiful!
I'm really curious about how this man is going to solve the current society problems.
Also will there be more guy characters, like friends/rivals?

[AWSalmon]

Also will there be more guy characters, like friends/rivals?

There will be, but we didn't have the time to create the character sprites we needed before our announcement deadline (we wanted to reveal our project on our group's first anniversary), and we thought that posting a character summary without an image wouldn't be the best idea. They'll be posted at a later date.

[xavimat]

I like the idea! Thinking about society, technology, present and future...
Subscribed!

[gekiganwing]

1. Is a love polygon really necessary for this story? Would the story work just as well if most of the characters just became (or remained) friends?

I asked similar questions on Reddit just a day or two ago. I've rephased them in a way that's hopefully more concise and coherent.

2. What sort of endings might happen? Do they include drastic changes to society?

3. The premise sounds slightly similar to Family Project (an adult VN about troubled people who choose to live together) and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (light novel with various spinoffs about social outcasts trying to become friends). Did you read either one? What other works of fiction have influenced you so far?

[pickle131]

I really like the character designs in this c:

[AWSalmon]

1. Is a love polygon really necessary for this story? Would the story work just as well if most of the characters just became (or remained) friends?

With as many writers as we have, allowing everyone to have a fair share in the project would be difficult without giving the heroines their own route, which usually means romance. But that doesn't mean this will be a harem story. None of these girls are going to be fighting for the main character's attention or anything like that. That's bad writing, and it wouldn't make sense for these characters or this setting.

2. What sort of endings might happen? Do they include drastic changes to society?

This is something we're in the middle of revising. Not too long ago the idea was that there would be one ending where the world as a whole might have a chance at recovering, with the other endings focusing more on the characters finding happiness where they can. The problem with that, though, is that you get stuck with a "G-senjou no maou" type story, where only one heroine really matters in the big picture. Right now we're trying to find a balance between focusing on the setting and focusing on the characters, trying to see if we find a better way to tell this story.

3. The premise sounds slightly similar to Family Project (an adult VN about troubled people who choose to live together) and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (light novel with various spinoffs about social outcasts trying to become friends). Did you read either one? What other works of fiction have influenced you so far?

I didn't come up with the original idea, but yes, Family Project was definitely an influence. The similarities are pretty clear: an old guy rounding up a group of people, most of them misfits, who for the most part don't really want to be involved with anything. But really the biggest influences we've had while developing this story are the current societal problems facing Japan in particular today, as I mentioned in the original post. For specifics though you would have to hop on to our IRC and ask Rific, the one who came up with the concept.